Leisure at home with reading and wine | Real Estate Newsletter
And South Philly’s iconic doors.
Last week, I introduced you to someone who’s always busy — working, renovating his house, and helping neighbors with their homes.
This week, let’s talk about taking it easy.
Dedicated “leisure spaces” inside and outside the home are getting more popular. Think reading rooms, relaxation areas, and kid zones. If you haven’t heard about this trend, we’ll catch you up.
Keep scrolling for that story and to
get the scoop on the iconic doors gracing South Philly rowhouses
learn how Philly’s housing market changed over two decades
and peek inside an at-home garden sanctuary in Elkins Park
📮 Does your neighborhood have a distinctive architectural feature? For a chance to be featured in my newsletter, email me.
— Michaelle Bond
If someone forwarded you this email, sign up for free here.
A couple in West Chester turned a rundown old icehouse next to their 19th-century stone home into a wine cellar. A tasting bar is just one cool (pun definitely intended) feature of the multilevel cellar.
A homeowner in Villanova has built three pavilions on her property. The latest one features a large stone floor-to-ceiling fireplace, a dining table that can sit 16, a catering kitchen, a loft, and a dog shower.
A report on housing trends found that homeowners’ searches for reading rooms, recreational spaces, and kid areas were way up in 2024, compared to the same time last year.
These types of leisure spaces have become more popular — you guessed it — because of the pandemic.
Some homeowners are looking to bring people together. Searches for terms such as bocce court and bowling alley are up. Searches for the term listening room are way up. I personally like to have my music follow me from room to room, but I’m not a luxury homeowner, so what do I know?
Learn more about the leisure space trend and take a peek at local homeowners’ spaces.
If you walk through the neighborhoods of South Philly, you’ll notice a unique style of front door on some of the rowhouses.
Mid-century Tofani doors feature starburst glass windows patterned in keyhole, heart, and diamond shapes. Later models feature wolverine claw and other designs.
They used to be all over, but the city’s losing them as they get thrown out and replaced.
Tony Trov is on a mission to save the doors he says are “as Philadelphia as the Liberty Bell.” Trov is a cofounder of the T-shirt shop and lifestyle brand South Fellini, and he’s rescued nine doors from neighborhood trash heaps.
The doors “are a staple of South Philadelphia architecture,” said Michael Shepherd, assistant director of the city’s Atwater Kent Collection, which contains 130,000+ objects that tell Philly’s history.
The collection wants to add one of Trov’s Tofani doors to its historical archive.
“Tofani doors are something that really resonate with people,” Shepherd said.
Keep reading for the history of the doors and how Trov and his wife, Joanna, became obsessed with them.
The latest news to pay attention to
This is what two decades of home sales can teach us about how Philly’s housing market has changed.
A new Pennsylvania law expands Philly’s homeowner protections against ”We Buy Houses” hustlers.
After a three-year hiatus that’s cost the city millions, the Philly Sheriff’s Office is once again auctioning off tax-delinquent properties.
A Burlington County town’s long-vacant landmark could become apartments if rooftop antennas don’t derail plans.
Here’s how local real estate agents are adapting to big changes in their industry.
A Chester County house that was a stop on the Underground Railroad will be rehabilitated thanks to a national preservation grant.
Workers found skeletal remains during construction of an Old City apartment building, raising questions about city policies on old burial grounds and new development.
House of the week: For $545,000 in Fishtown, a three-bedroom rowhouse with a roof deck.
The yard surrounding Rich and Angela McCracken’s three-story twin home in Elkins Park has hardly any grass. The homeowners are all about their gardens.
Out front, Rich planted flowers, shrubs, and produce, including tomatoes he moved to his front yard to keep them away from deer. (I hope that works better than the natural deer repellent and strung-up CDs that my aunt and grandma used at their New Jersey home.)
But the real show at the McCracken house is out back. Rich turned his rear yard into a garden sanctuary.
When the couple bought their home in 2012, Rich removed a rotting weeping willow and replaced it with plants and trees, including ones that bear fruit.
Stone steps lined with wildflowers lead to a gravel patio surrounded by a rock garden. Rich and his sons collected stones and rocks for the landscaping from a creek bed across the street.
Peek inside the gardens and see how Rich, who runs a landscaping company, transformed his own yard.
🧠 Trivia time
Market Street in Old City will be getting a new pedestrian plaza as part of a plan to transform the street. The overhaul includes adding bike lanes and cutting car lanes.
Question: By what year do officials involved in the planning say the pedestrian plaza will be finished?
A) 2024
B) 2026
C) 2028
D) 2030
This story has the answer.
📷 Photo quiz
Do you know the location this photo shows?
📮 If you think you do, email me back. You and your memories of visiting this spot might be featured in the newsletter.
Last week’s photo quiz featured the rooftop Bok Bar on the historic Bok Building in South Philly. A bunch of readers got that right. I’ll shout out a few: Melissa R., Jacqueline T., Latisha T., Josh M. and Robert L.
Deborah S. told me the railing in the picture gave it away. Her daughter got married on that roof in 2019.
―
We’ve talked before about apartment and condo amenities, but landlords of residential buildings aren’t the only ones using amenities to try to attract and keep tenants these days. Office landlords also are rolling out perks, since, as you can imagine, it can be pretty rough owning an office building right now.
One Center City office building is going big. It just opened a restaurant and bar that are open only to people who work in the building and their guests. Philly real estate observers say it’s a first in Center City.
Let me know how it is if you can get in. And enjoy the rest of your week.
By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.